Recently I have been impressed upon the seventh year. The power of the seventh year. I know I have talked about this in the beginning of the year but the Lord has been bringing this to remembrance again. Hence I was prompted to research more into this topic and I found more than I wanted.
Leviticus 25:2-5 says 'Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the Lord. For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest.'
Deuteronomy 15:1-2 says 'At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel any loan they have made to a fellow Israelite. They shall not require payment from anyone among their own people, because the Lord’s time for canceling debts has been proclaimed.'
Deuteronomy 15:12-13 says 'If any of your people—Hebrew men or women—sell themselves to you and serve you six years, in the seventh year you must let them go free. And when you release them, do not send them away empty-handed. Supply them liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress. Give to them as the Lord your God has blessed you.'
As you can see, if you are God's people, you had a special advantage. You will get your release every 7th year. No matter what you went through or how stuck you may have felt, in the 7th year, you were set free. God never intended His people to be a slave to anything permanent. Every trial, every difficulty, every suffering is only temporary. You have come into one of your 7th years. The number 7 in the bible also means completion and perfection. So when you come to your 7th year, it means that God's work for your previous season has been completed. You have finished your assignment, fought the good fight of faith and finished your race. God says you are ready to move on.
The 7th year is when you break free from any bondage or stronghold that is standing between you and your promise. You may have received a prophetic word from God seven years ago and wondering if this promise was ever coming to pass after so long. Well, one touch of God's favour will suddenly turn your situation around. When you come into your 7th year, no forces of darkness will stop God's plan from coming to pass. It's a year of breakthroughs. The 7th year is a year of release from sickness, disease, chronic pain, depression, bad breaks, worry and anxiety. It's not only a release from things holding you back; it's also a release into overflow, abundance and increase. It's when your dreams come to pass, your promise manifest and prayers got answered.
Well, for some of you, the 7th year is also the year when God gives you rest from your enemies. You may have gone through a 7-year period of wilderness where you see little fruit coming out from your life but you need to get ready. Your next seven years will be a season of abundance, joy, fulfilment and you will see the fruits of your labour for the past 7 years manifesting. The 7th year is the beginning of God's restoration in your life, for those things the enemy has stolen from you, be it finances, children, joy, peace or lost years. God is not releasing you into freedom empty handed. He will supply you liberally.
Now Leviticus 25:9-10 also talks about the Jubilee year. 'Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each of you is to return to your family property and to your own clan.'
The Hebrew year 5776 which started in last Sep, Rosh Hashanah is also a Jubilee year. On the day of atonement last Sep, the trumpet was blown pronouncing the start of the Jubilee year. It is the 50th year after seven cycles of sabbath years. It is a year when captives are set free to return to their land, a year of cancellation of debts, a year of restoring the houses & assets and making restitution for any harm inflicted to someone. It seemed similar to the seventh year only that it is on a much bigger scale. Hence the cause for great celebration.
Pastor Prince declared 2015 as the year of God's restoration for our church. I believe that God is still restoring things this year. Since Jubilee is also a time of restoration, and the Hebrew year 5776 continues in 2016, the theme is still valid. Not only that this Hebrew year is also the Jews' 70th Jubilee. The number 70 in the bible refers to the end of captivity as you can see from the seventy years of captivity in Babylon.
Jeremiah 29:10-14 says 'When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”
2016 is a significant year because it is the seventh year, or the end of seven years of wilderness. It is also the Jubilee year and the 70th Jubilee for the Jews and for us, children of God. I don't know about you but I am excited. It is the convergence of three major juxtaposition of events. You got to receive this into your spirit. This is a new beginning, a new season and the tide of the battle has been turned, every chain loosed, stronghold shattered. You are breaking free into a new level. God is releasing you from your pain and suffering, from hopelessness into unspeakable joy, increase, honour, promotion, opportunities, breakthroughs and the fullness of your destiny!
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